


The Cadet and the Fugitive

by Vartheta999



Series: Strays [3]
Category: Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Genre: M/M, Tags May Change, Takes place in Season One, will add more tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2018-10-25 12:49:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10764600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vartheta999/pseuds/Vartheta999
Summary: A standard patrol leads Strongarm to meeting a stranger who is more than meets the eye.





	1. Chapter 1

Strongarm drove down the road as she patrolled the area for any Decepticon activity. So far it was a pretty calm night, so calm she found it very boring. It was as if any and all fugitives were taking a break of some sort in honor of the blood moon, a phenomenon where in a total eclipse the moon appears reddish when the Earth blocks and refracts the light of the sun. She had to admit it was quite a sight, she didn't agree with the name though. They could have called it red moon, rusty moon, or ruby moon or maybe even-

Her train of thought came to an abrupt halt when she heard something. She stopped. It was someone singing in the distance. Normally she wouldn't give something like that a second thought, but something about the voice enchanted her and the more she listened to it, the deeper she fell into a trance before she began to follow the siren's song. Like a moth to flame she went towards it, not caring if it might result in her untimely death. The voice was just so beautiful, the most beautiful thing she had ever heard, she just had to get closer. She went off road in her pursuit and went into bot mode for better maneuverability.

As she got closer she began understand the lyrics that were being sung and she began to sing along very quietly.

“ _A_ _nd we will never be alone again 'cause it doesn't happen everyday. Kinda counted in you being a friend, kinda given up on giving away.”_ She paused to activate her infrared specs on her optics when she entered a cave “ _Now I thought about what I wanna say, but I never really know where to go. So chained myself to a friend, 'cause there's nowhere else I can go.”_ She continued to sing and walk for a good ten minutes before coming to an abrupt halt when the singing suddenly stopped. She vigorously shook her head, the trance broken, and looked around confused. “How did I….where am I?” She asked herself with a look of bewilderment. She could have sworn she was on a road a second ago, how did she and up in a cave?

“Who's there?” a deep voice echoed throughout the cave. “I'm armed and you bet your aft I'm dangerous!” she heard them snarl. She heard his (the voice sounded like a mech's) footsteps coming towards her and it sounded like they were running.

She felt her spark stop as she began to panic, her bewilderment turning into fear.

“This is Strongarm, Fix-It do you copy!? I need back up, I repeat, I need back up!” she said frantically “Fix-It!”

Static.

She tried to comm base a few more times without success, the minerals in the cave were interfering with her comm and she couldn't get a signal.

“Scrap.” She swore under her breathe and quickly hid behind a rock to come up with a plan to get herself out. “Maybe I can….No I don't even know how I came in and even if I did he would catch me before I could make it out. I could stay hiding but he'll eventually find me….” Dread washed over her as the footsteps drew closer. “Primus, what if I die here? I'll die and no one will ever find my lifeless chassis. I'll die here all alone _._ ” She said in a small panicky voice before she mentally smacked herself“What am I, a sparkling? I'm not helpless, I could defend myself. I have my blaster and my training. I'll get out of here with only a few scratches and having captured a fugitive. Lieutenant Bumblebee will be so proud-Nonono, focus. Focus. You could think about that later Strongarm. Just focus and more importantly, hope you make it out of here alive.”

“Come out now or suffer the consequences!” he yelled in threatening tones. “I'm warning you!” She heard him stop and walk around a few feet away from where she was.

Strongarm's fist clenched and she bit her lip as she tried to build up the courage to come out from her hiding spot to confront him. _You could do this, don't be afraid. Bumblebee wouldn't be scared, Optimus especially. Just focus and stay calm and you'll succeed. That's right. Just focus and stay calm._ She reassured herself and whipped out her blaster. “Put your hands where I can see them and drop your weapon!” she came out and yelled. She saw the silhouette of the fugitive, who had a frame similar to Sideswipe only he was a tad more slender, freeze and drop a long pole and slowly put his arms up. “Now walk towards me, slowly.” He did as he was told and slowly advanced towards her.

She lowered her blaster slightly and raised an optic ridge. This was going a lot easier than she thought it would be. She expected to get attacked by how much this guy talked, but it seemed like either he was all show and no go, he respected law enforcement, or he had some tricks up his metaphorical sleeve. She brought her blaster back up and pulled out a pair of stasis cuffs when he stopped in front of her and held out his arms to her. Now that he was directly in front of her, she could see he had a mask that covered his whole face and that he was taller than her but shorter than Sideswipe. She began to put the cuffs on him and she recited the phrase she was already all too familiar with “Decepticon fugitive by order of Cybertronian legal code, Section 305, you are hereby placed under arrest-Huh?” She stared at the insignia on his chest. Something was off about it. It looked crude and uneven, like it was drawn in a hurry, and it also looked like it was covering something. She squinted her optics and leaned forward in an attempt to get a better look. Her optics shot wide open in complete shock and surprise and her blaster slipped out her hand.

It was an Autobot insignia. This Decepticon fugitive wasn't a Decepticon at all. He was an Autobot.

“Is there something wrong officer?” the “fugitive” said sounding a little concerned. She quickly regained her composure and pointed to his mask and motioned for him to take it off. She could have told him to do it, but she was at a loss of words at the moment. “You want me to take off my mask?” She nodded. “Okay. I don't see how it helps but you're the cop.” He shrugged and made a clicking noise with his glossa. A few seconds later, the mask came off with a hiss and fell to the ground. Without it she saw he was very young, same age as her. None of the fugitives her team caught before were this young. They were all well past the maturing stage and were full grown cybertronians.

“Who….Who are you?” She finally choked out, gawping at him. “Why do you have that thing on your insignia?”

“My name is Nitrobolt and if you want to get an explanation, just remove the cuffs because they're making my wrists hurt and follow me because I think you'll need to sit down for it.” He said in a casual tone like this was somehow an everyday occurrence for him. Without his mask to filter his voice, it was soft and rich like an energon sweet and it made her feel calm.

“You're staying in the cuffs, but I'll follow you.” She answered and picked up her blaster and put it back in the holster.

“Understood….” he sighed in disappointment and began walking  “Now come on, my place is just over that ridge.”

Strongarm hesitated for a moment before she began to follow him. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Nitrobolt tried to strike up a conversation. “So….What's your name? I already told you mine and may I also ask why your are in this cave, it's pretty hard to find.”

“Strongarm and I don't know how the frag I got here. One second I'm driving and next thing I know I'm here.” Strongarm exclaimed angrily “All I remember is hearing someone singing and thinking it was beautiful….” She trailed off and smiled “It really was.”

“….I'm sorry about that. That was me.” Nitrobolt laughed nervously “You see when I sing at a high pitch it kinda sends a hypnotic frequency which puts the listener into a trance that could lure them to me; I honestly don't know how or why I have this ability, I was just born this way. Anyway, I sometimes go into that pitch by accident when I'm singing songs that require me to sing at that pitch.”

“Oh….well that aside you are pretty good at it, Nitrobolt.” She smiled.

“Thanks, Strongarm, I appreciate it.” He smiled back “Now, can you whistle?”

“Yeah, why?” She asked amused.

“You'll see. Now on my count. One….Two….Three!” He shouted and they both let out a long, shrill whistle. Like magic, the darkness was illuminated by four bright lights, the kinds used for a football field or a baseball stadium. “Tada!” He exclaimed happily “Welcome to my home. And before you ask, yes, I did steal those lights from somewhere and modified them so they could run off of just bit of energon….But I'll give them back when I no longer need them. Anyway, have a seat.” He motioned at makeshift chair that was made a large rock with a seat chipped into it and Strongarm sat down and surveyed the small space he called his home.

He had a few cubes of energon stacked neatly in a corner and a stasis pod on the ground with it's lid broken off. It was filled with leaves and shrubbery, he was probably recharging in the pod because they looked crushed. She also noticed because of light that Nitrobolt was mostly white with light blue highlights and that he had a silver, crown shaped plate on his helm similar to hers.

Nitrobolt clearing his intake brought her attention back to him. “So earlier you asked why I have this Decepticon insignia over my Autobot one. In order to understand why, you must hear what happened. First, do you recognize me from anywhere in particular?”

She shrugged “No, this is the first time I've ever-Hold on, now that I think about it, you do look like the son of Interitio, one of the council members, that went missing a couple of years ago and hasn't been found yet. I forgot his name though. Well, names. He went by two.” She paused to try to remember one of his names. It was somewhere in the back of her processor, she just needed to find it. After a minute of pondering, she perked up. “His real name was Nex, but he called himself….” Her jaw dropped and she stared at Nitrobolt even more confused than she was earlier. “Nitrobolt. You're the….but how?”

“Interitio didn't like me very much. I was always going against him, I didn't like what he and the rest of the council were doing. Some 'Cons that were thrown in prison didn't need to be thrown in prison, they needed some serious help. Like that Amphiboid who wouldn't stop looking for Doradus or that Corvicon who was obsessed with shiny things. I also didn't like how they treated heroes. Like how Bumblebee, the slayer of Megatron and part of the team that saved Cybertron, was demoted to a simple street cop.” Nitrobolt frowned “I started trying to instigate rebellions to overthrow the council to make way for a new one. I began calling myself Nitrobolt and I worked with this bot named Steeljaw for a while before I found out his true motives and cut off all ties with him. Eventually, Interitio decided the only way to keep me from being a thorn in his side to get rid of me. So he slapped this symbol over my Autobot one as a badge of shame and threw me into a stasis pod. I guess he made up the story of me going missing to hide what he had done. When the Alchemor crashed, my pod was broken and I was able to escape. I walked around for a few hours until I found this cave and I've been living here ever since, only coming out every morning to search for fuel and keep myself from getting bored….So that's my story. Take it as you like, but if you still want to throw me into stasis afterwards I won't hold it against you.”

Strongarm nodded and leaned back to take all that he said in. Was he lying? Maybe. But when Nex aka Nitrobolt disappeared, Interitio wasn't exactly too anxious to find him. It lead many to believe he had something to do with his son's disappearance, but no one could prove it. Nitrobolt knew Steeljaw personally and might try to reunite with him, but he said he cut off all ties with him which meant he probably didn't want to see him again anytime soon. Could she trust him? Well, he hadn't attacked her yet and didn't attempt to escape. Strongarm looked at him. He was leaning against a wall with his optics closed and he was whistling a small tune to himself. She looked down at the cuffs on his wrist and sighed.

“Nitrobolt, how do your wrist feel?” She asked, reaching into her subspace to pull out the key for the cuffs.

“Fine. A little sore, but I'm getting used to-” He looked down at his wrist and the cuffs were gone. “It….Thanks, Strongarm.”

“Don't mention it. Now….how do I get out of here?”

“Just a second, I need to call my mask.”

“What do you mean you're going to-”

She was interrupted by him making clicking noises. Before she could ask why he was doing this, she heard a small beeping coming towards them. She turned her helm towards the beeping and saw his mask flying towards him. He caught in and put it back in his subspace. He whistled and the lights shut off. “You ready to go?”

“Yes. How did you do that?”

“I'm more than just a pretty voice, I'm pretty handy too. My hand can turn into several tools, so I literally am pretty handy. I just made it so it would follow my voice wherever I was when I called it, hence why I was clicking.”

“Like my teammate Fix-It. He can do that too, but he also can actually turn into a tool. He's like what humans call a Swiss Army Knife.”

“Huh….That's very interesting. By the way, how did you get to get to earth? I mean, you are obviously one of a few law officers sent here to capture fugitives. Did you come on a ship or something?” He asked in a curious tone, helping her down a steep incline.

“Not exactly. You see….”

And she went on to tell him about how she came to Earth, the mission from Optimus, and her team.


	2. Chapter 2

“Sideswipe, any sign of Strongarm in your area?”

《 _Nope._ 》

“Grim?”

《 _Nothing yet….you think she's okay, Bee?》_

“She is. She knows how to take care of herself….mostly.” Bumblebee said, trying to sound comforting but at the same time trying to reassure himself that everything was going to be okay. “Fix-It, any luck on finding her signal?”

《 _Negative, lieutenant. Cadet Strongarm seems to have just disintegrated-_ **_ZZZT!_ ** _Dismantled-_ **_CLUNK!_ ** _Disappeared! I can't find her anywhere!_ 》the minicon replied frantically over the comm 《 _What if Steeljaw's Pack has her? What if she crossed paths with a Decepticon and was-》_

“Let's try not think about that right now, Fix-It, let's just focus on finding her. Keep trying, okay?”

《 _Yes, lieutenant-Strongarm! Her signal it just pop-pop-pop_ ** _CLANK!_** _It just popped back online-Oh, no….》_ He heard Fix-It gasp.

“Oh, no what?!”

《 _She's not alone. Sending you all her coordinates now!》_

“Good job, Fix-It. Come on team, let's go!” Bumblebee shouted and sped up “We got to get to her before that 'Con does.”

 

Meanwhile, Strongarm and Nitrobolt had reached the end of the cave and it opened up to a small clearing and beyond that were trees as far as the eye could see.

“Finally, I was starting to think I'd never get out of there.” Strongarm cheered “Thanks.”

“You're welcome….Well goodbye, Strongarm.” He sighed and began to make his way into the cave. “Go east, you'll be on the road in no time.”

“What, why? Don't you want to come with me? We could just explain your situation to the others, I think they'll understand.”

“I'm not exactly ready to meet your friends just yet-”

《 _Strongarm! Strongarm! Do you copy!?》_ He was interrupted when Bumblebee practically screamed to her over the comm. 《 _Do you copy!》_

“Ay! I do, lieutenant! Don't have to shout.” She replied annoyed. “Why are you shouting at me in the first place?”

《 _Oh thank the Allspark!》_ He said relieved, completely ignoring her question. _《Stay where you are we'll be right there!》_

“Oh scrap!” She exclaimed “You better run!”

“You don't have to tell me twice-”

“Wait! Destroy your mark, it'll disable the tracking mechanism! I don't want the next time I see you to be in a stasis pod.”

“Thank you….So long, Cadet Strongarm.” he smiled and saluted her before running back into the black abyss that was his home. “WHISTLE THE NEXT TIME YOU'RE CLOSE BY SO WE COULD HANG OUT, OKAY?” He yelled. “OR YOU COULD JUST COMM ME TOO….WHATEVER YOU WANT! I SUGGEST WHISTLING.”

“Okay Nitrobolt, goodbye!” She yelled back and smiled fondly at him until he was out of sight. By then she could already hear Grimlock knocking over trees and the sound of Bumblebee yelling _“Hurry!”._

She sat down on the ground and let out a heavy sigh. “What did I just do? I let a fugitive get away-No. I just made a friend, that's what I did.”

♢♢♢♢♢♢

For the next month, Strongarm would use almost any free time she had to see Nitrobolt. They would have long talks about Cybertron and what they missed about it, about their likes and dislikes, about Earth. When they weren't talking they were teaching each other things, such as how to properly use a blaster or how to ballroom dance (Nitrobolt's idea). When they weren't doing that _,_ they would go on long drives. And when they weren't doing that and if it was night, they'd go stargazing. They would try to count all the stars and would make their own constellations. It was like all their problems and worries just melted away. There was no mission from Optimus, no need to hide and survive, no fugitives to catch, no Decepticon bent on taking over Earth. Nothing. They were just two teenage cybertronians enjoying each others company and enjoying life.

Bumblebee and the rest of her team began to find it very odd how Strongarm always seemed to have somewhere to go and how happy she would be when she returned. If she was upset at Sideswipe when she left, for whatever reason all was forgiven when she returned. Whenever they asked about where she went she would immediately change the subject.

Her secret, however, was almost found out on several occasions, one being when Bumblebee was under the influence of the toxin from Quillfire's quills that diminished his maturity level to that of a young sparkling. When he slipped past his would-be babysitters and made his way to the carnival he stumbled upon a stargazing Nitrobolt. After a small conversation, the confused young mech escorted Bumblebee to the carnival grounds before running back into the night.

The second came only a short time later when Strongarm had snuck back into base after a night of hanging out with Nitrobolt and was caught by Sideswipe. After a few unsuccessful attempts to convince Sideswipe she wasn't out without Bumblebee's permission, he blackmailed her in return for his silence. After a full day of being his lackey, she had enough. She refused to do his patrols for him on the way back to base and he proceeded to tell Bumblebee, only for him to reveal he had known about Strongarm sneaking out. When he ask where she was going she was prompted to show him the one place she would go to when she wasn't with Nitrobolt, a car wash. Afterwards when they had returned to base she requested to go on a drive and it was granted. What she really wanted to do was talk to Nitrobolt.

That's why she was here now, laying on the grass on top of hill besides Nitrobolt, counting stars.

“Nitro, I can't keep on doing this.” She said suddenly in a sad and upset tone, sitting up and looking at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean seeing you behind everyone's backs. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with you, you're one of the only bots I can actually talk to. But, we're eventually going to get caught and it's not going to be pretty. I don't know what else we could do to keep that from happening, we either stop seeing each other all together or you join my team. Maybe there are other ways that I haven't thought of yet, but we need to do something about this regardless.”

Nitrobolt sighed and sat up next to her. “Look, Strongarm, I'm still not ready to meet your team, but if it means you won't get in trouble I'll do it. It's actually a good idea, now that I think about it, because I can't stay solo forever and I have skills that can help your team.”

“So is that a yes?”

“Of course that's a yes!”

“There's only one problem.” Strongarm said suddenly in a serious tone. “I checked your record and your carrier put a lot of crimes you didn't commit. Two counts of reckless assault, attempted murder, three counts of murder, larceny, arson….the list goes on.”

“What!? All I ever did was instigate rebellion, I didn't do all of _that_!” He growled angrily. “That glitch!”

Strongarm began to pat him on the back to calm him down. “I believe you, but my friends won't. They'll think you manipulated me or something. We need to do something about it, maybe I can change the file….but I'm not a tech genius.”

“And there's another problem. Steeljaw. I don't exactly want him to see me or know it's me. Like I've told you we had a very, um, close relationship before we cut ties. I'll need a new name, a repaint, and a backstory before I meet your team. Only question is what colors, what story, and what name-”

“I got it! I showed you the cybertronian law enforcement manual and you know all the regulations.”

“By spark, but what does that have to do with-” He perked up when he realized where she was getting at. “Oh….Keep going, I think I'm going to like it.”

“You could pretend be a cadet like me! We'll just say you were my best friend at the academy and when I disappeared, you began to look for me and found out I was on earth and came here.”

“And if they ask how, I'll just say one of the museum security guards was a friend and they let me through.” he finished for her. “Genius! You get me paint and a stencil for an Autobot logo and leave them at the carwash, I'll handle the rest.”

“Sounds like a plan, Nitro.”

For the rest of the hour they came up with different ways to introduce him to the rest of the team and tried to come up with a name for his disguise before they departed.


	3. Chapter 3

_What is she still hiding?_

That was the only thing on Sideswipe's processor. He couldn't even focus on anything, that was all he could think about after Strongarm showed them that carwash. There was a small little voice in the back of his processor telling him to let it be, but as usual he ignored it in favor of the bigger voice telling him to investigate and as result for a week he followed her around. Each time he was either caught by Strongarm or Bumblebee dragged him off to do something. All in all, he didn't really gather much intel while spying on her, all he learned was that she liked to draw when she was alone and that she had taken a cart of car paint to the car wash, the latter being the only useful piece of information. After that he began staking out the car wash with the help of Russell, who insisted he let him tag along after he told him about his little investigation, and for the first few days there was nothing, until they reached the fourth day of their little stake out.

Russell and Sideswipe were both sitting in one of the garages at the car wash with the door open and they had been so since the afternoon and the sun had already begun to set. They were just about to leave when they heard the sound of an engine not too far away.

 

“Russell, get the video camera thing ready, she's coming!” Sideswipe whispered to him urgently before transforming back into vehicle mode. Russell quickly covered him with a tarp, careful that none of his crimson red finish was showing, before going into a cardboard box with a small hole in the front to stick the camera lens out. But, instead of Strongarm Russell saw a man in his early twenties in uniform on a police motorcycle, stop and park near them.

"Is it Strongarm?” Sideswipe asked quietly so whoever it was wouldn't hear him. “I'm blind right now, is it her or not?”

"No. It's just a motorcycle cop.” Russell replied back as quietly as him. Then suddenly the man disappear into thin air and not even a second later his motorcycle was replaced with a transformer with a navy blue finish with streaks of white and a pair of sirens on his back. The young boys mouth was agape and he tried to tell Sideswipe what had happened, but all he managed to get out was “Transformer, Sideswipe, transformer.”

“I know, Russell, I heard….Does it look like a bot or a con?”

“I can't tell, he has no symbol-”

"I know you're watching me you two,” The mech said suddenly, staring directly at the camera with a frown. “I know it's two because since I arrived I've heard two different voices. One of you is breathing so that tells me you're a human and is probably the one in that box.” He pointed to where Russell was hiding and then to where Sideswipe was. “I think it's safe to assume that the one under the tarp is cybertronian because only a cybertronian can turn into a vehicle.” He said calmly while at the same time sounding serious. “Can you both please come out, I don't want to use force.”

Both cursed under their breathe and came out of their hiding spots, Sideswipe transforming and standing in front of the mysterious mech. He was shorter him, but he looked taller than Strongarm, and he had black visor that resembled sunglasses. “What's your name?” Sideswipe finally asked after another minute of looking him over.

“Where did you come from and how did you get here?” Russell added, staring at the mech with suspicion in his eyes. He didn't seem like a bad bot, just upset about what they were doing, but Russell was still suspicious. Afterall, Steeljaw acted all good and cool until they did something that ticked him off. Who was to say this guy wasn't the same? 

“My name's Circuit Splitter, I'm an Autobot in case you were wondering.” He answered with a thin smile. “I also go by Manual, but only my friends can call me that and you're not even close, not yet at least, and I'm from Cybertron. How I got here is a long story-”

“Which I will be glad to hear.”

The three of them turned their heads to the side and saw Bumblebee and Strongarm, the former with a stern look and his arms crossed and the latter behind him smiling and waving at Circuit Splitter, who in turn smiled back before saluting Bumblebee. “It's an honor to meet you, Lieutenant Bumblebee, Strongarm has told me a lot about you, has she told you anything about me?”

“She just did actually and I would've appreciated if she had told me about you a lot sooner instead of telling me barely fifteen minutes ago. But I digress, it's still nice to meet you, Circuit Splitter.” Bumblebee smiled at him before turning to Russell and Sideswipe with a scowl. “And aren't you two supposed to be at a monster truck rally in the next county?”

Sideswipe gulped. “Uh….We stopped for a wash and got sidetracked? We saw a, uh, blue squirrel.” He smiled nervously.

Bumblebee's deadpan expression showed he didn't believe a word and he shook his head with a frustrated sigh before looking back at Circuit Splitter. “Circuit Splitter, you were going to tell us how you came here?”

The young mech nodded. “Yes, sir….Strongarm was my best friend at the academy, and when she disappeared I was kinda of lost without her and got a little depressed. Then when I found out what happened I was determined to bring her back, so at the end of the semester I had scraped up enough shanix to pay these bots to bring me to Earth and back. They brought me to Earth, only they knocked me unconscious before we landed and dumped me in the middle of nowhere, the bastards, and it doesn't look like they're coming back. When I came to, I wandered around for a few days until I found a road and began driving. The whole time I tried to contact Strongarm, but I couldn't get a clear signal until a week after I came to Earth, which was month ago.” He smiled at Strongarm, who had come to stand next to him. “I was so happy to hear her voice again and, truth be told, I was actually crying. I came here as fast as I could and it was a real smooth ride, but I did run into some 'cons along the way. They didn't really do much damage to me physically, I had only lost a little bit of energon, but I came out looking horrible appearance wise.”

“That's why I had brought all that paint and that buffer here for when he arrived, so he could make himself look presentable before he met you. He's also why I've been leaving the scrapyard so often because we commed each other almost everyday, and I'd leave because I don't want _anyone_ -” She threw a glare at Sideswipe. “-listening to our conversations. I'm sorry for not telling any of you about him.”

“Apology accepted, but the next time you hide things like this from us, me especially, you will be punished, understood?” Bumblebee said sternly.

“Understood, sir.” Strongarm inclined her head in apology before turning her attention back to Circuit Splitter.

“As for you, Circuit, can I trust that you aren't lying about any of this?”

“Yes, sir, I can assure you that I speak the truth.” He said bringing up holographic lawbook like Strongarm's. “As you see here, it clearly states in our oath of honor that and I quote, _“....I swear that I will always be honest and will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character, or the public trust….”,_ End quote.” He closed the hologram and looked back at Strongarm. “I came here for her, but seeing as I have no way back home and your current situation with the decepticon fugitives, I humbly request that you let me join your team so that I may be of service to you.”

“Well….we can use more hands-”

“Hold up, Bee, he just appeared out of nowhere and you're just gonna let him join? Strongarm has never said anything about him.” Sideswipe interrupted with a frown. He gave Circuit Splitter a cold, hard stare. “If you were her “ _best friend_ ” then she'd be blabbing on and on about you, but she hasn't!”

“We all miss people differently. I missed Strongarm so much, but I kept it to myself and tried to forget because it was interfering with my training at the academy. Maybe she did the same thing so it wouldn't interfere with what she's doing now.” Circuit shrugged and smiled at him. “I understand if you don't trust me, and I don't expect you to now, that must be earned.”

“Like I was about to say before you interrupted, Sideswipe, you can join the team, Circuit Splitter.” Bumblebee said proudly, taking his hand and shaking it. “Everyone, let's go back to base, I'm sure everyone else would like to meet our newest member.”

  
Everyone else back at the base hit it off pretty well with Circuit Splitter, especially Fix-It, who was impressed with his knowledge of engineering, and Sideswipe was still acting a little cold towards him which made him feel a little down. After the buzz on him died down, he went to a secluded part of the scrapyard, and after fashioning himself a couch out of some stacked cars, he sat down and stared at the now starfilled sky. Strongarm came to join him a while later and the two just stargazed for in silence for a few minutes before he spoke up.

 “Do you think I made a good first impression?” He asked, nervously playing with his hands. “Sideswipe doesn't really seem to like me….”

 “Don't worry, I mean, you did just appear out of nowhere. He'll like you eventually. By the way, nice paintjob.” She leaned toward him as if to share something secret. “And good job with the backstory, Nitro.” She whispered into his audio receptor. “Heck, I even thought it was real until I remembered it was just you.”

“Really, you like the paintjob? I was going for the tall, dark, and handsome look.” He joked, retracting his visor and batting his optics at her. “I am a beautiful specimen of cybertronian biology, aren't I?”

“Keep dreaming.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nitrobolt reminisces about his past and bumps into an old...."friend".
> 
> (Flashbacks will be italicized and will start and end with a double line)

_“Nex, stop acting like a child! You are my son, not theirs!” Ineritio yelled angrily at the young mech, who sat across from him with a scowl._

_“Your son!? Your son!! You didn't even have the decency to save your conjux or me, your “son”, the sparkling who could barely even talk, when the decepticons attacked. You ran like the coward you are! And its Nitrobolt.” Nitrobolt snarled with a look of disgust. “Don't deny it because I remember and you admitted to it. He died because of you!”_

_“I'm sorry, Nex! I'm sorry! How many times do I have to say it? It was survival of the fittest at that moment and I just ran. Do you understand?” Ineritio frowned. “Well, son?”_

_“Stop calling me your son! Onyx and Nightshade were the ones that saved me and afterwards they protected, raised, and loved me like I was their own while you were somewhere drinking cocktails and blowing bubbles. They became my sire and carrier. I am their son, not yours.” Nitrobolt replied calmly but sternly, pounding his fist on the table for emphasis and leaving a nice dent that he wished was in Ineritio's face. “How could you have them put into stasis? They were heroes, never committed any crimes. And to top it off, you put their sparkling Blitz in stasis as well instead of putting him into the care of Bumblebee like you promised them. You're sick!”_

_“It was out of sympathy, he was crying his head off when we put them in stasis so it seemed only fair to do it to him to save him from the pain, Nex-”_

_“Stop calling me Nex! My name is Nitrobolt, that's the name they gave me and that's the name I go by.” Nitrobolt threw another disgusted look at Ineritio before getting up and heading towards the door. “I don't know what Circuit Splitter ever saw in a cowardly, self centered piece of scrap like you.” He spat out right before the door closed shut._

* * *

* * *

 “HEY!”

Circuit Splitter blinked back to reality, and just like that, the memory was gone. He was met with the sight of Sideswipe glaring at him, which was the usual at this point. He didn't understand what the red mech had against him, it had been weeks since he had joined the Bee Team and he still seemed to harbor a special level of disdain towards him and Circuit didn't get why. Usually, he'd exchange playful banter with him, but he wasn't in the mood.

“Are you even listening to me, Splitty? Do you wanna spar or not?” Sideswipe crossed his arms with an indignant huff. “Well do ya?”

“Why?”

“Because I want to try out this cool new move and I need another bot. Grim is too big, Bee doesn't want to do it, Strongarm's on patrol, I won't even ask Drift, and I'd feel horrible if I did it to the minicons. That leaves you, and I won't feel bad if it's you.” He smirked with a devilish glint in his optics. “So whaddya say, Splitty?”

Circuit shook his helm and pushed Sideswipe aside as he began to walk away. “No. Just leave me alone today, we could do it next time-”

“You always say that, but next time never comes.” He frowned. “You always walk away, like a _coward_.”

Circuit froze. His hands balled into fist and they visibly shook. “I am no coward, I'd lay down my life for this whole team, even you. I just don't like sparring with you, your actions are driven by anger. But to prove you wrong, I will spar with you this time.” He quickly turned around and got into a fighting stance. Circuit growled, baring his dentae. “Get ready to have your aft handed to you on a silver platter, pretty boy-”

“Think fast!” Sideswipe shouted and threw a punch. To his surprise Circuit caught his fist and before he could fully react he had twisted his arms behind his back.

“And right here is where I tear your arms off!” He said jokingly with a small chuckle. He pulled Sideswipe's arms back when he began to struggle, making him let out a series of high pitched “Ows”.

“Let me go-OwowOW!!” Sideswipe exclaimed when Circuit pulled his arms back even harder.

“Just one kick to the lower back and you can bid them goodbye. Unfortunately, you need them so I'll let you go.” Circuit threw him to the ground. “Now leave me alone.”

“Oh no! We're finishing what we started.” Sideswipe snarled and got back up into to a fighting stance. “C'mon, Splitty, I'm waiting.”

Circuit held back a laugh. This guy didn't know when to quit, even after he nearly had his arms torn off, he still wouldn't quit. He either had brass bearings or was just so ~~stupid~~ arrogant he wouldn't accept defeat.

 _I should give the guy what he wants,_ he thought before he uppercutted Sideswipe, sending him reeling into a stack of cars. Before Sideswipe could get up Circuit stepped on his chest, pinning him down. “Listen up cherry bomb and listen good, I have no time for your fragging scrap.” Circuit hissed. “I was having a moment to myself earlier and then you came in and ruined it with your stupid invitation. I was already upset, you just made it worse. Now I would appreciate it if you just left me the frag alone!”

“Okay, okay, you got it dude.” Sideswipe nodded so fast that if he nodded any faster his helm would fall off. “Can you get off me now-”

“Silence and let me finish!”

Sideswipe clamped his mouth plates shut.

“If you ever call me a coward again, I swear by the allspark-” Circuit transformed his hand into a large blade and poised it over his crotch plate. “I'll cut off your spike and shove it down your throat. I don't think you wanna taste your own junk, so quit it! Do you understand me?”

“Y-Yes, I-I understand.” Sideswipe stuttered, trembling with fear. “You don't have to worry about that anymore.”

“Good.” Circuit got off him. “I'm sorry for scaring you, I really am, but everyone needs a good scare now and then.” He smirked and transformed and drove away from the scene to go on his much needed drive.

* * *

* * *

_Nitrobolt took another s_ _wig of his drink. It had been a few hours since his argument with Ineritio and he was still seething with rage. He hated him with all his spark, he had torn his family apart._

_He also hated how the council and Ineritio ran Cybertron. Sure, things were better than ever, but it was the way the demonized Team Prime that got to him. They were the heroes who saved Cybertron, and instead of a thanks they got the blame for everything. There were a couple of other things, too. If only he were the one in charge, things would be different. Yeah! He should overthrow the council-No! That was the high grade talking, he can't do that…._

_“Do you mind if I sit here?” a mech suddenly asked, derailing his train of thought. “All the other seats here are filled.”_

_Nitrobolt quickly looked up from his drink and saw a bluish grey wolficon with amber, almost golden, optics. Nitrobolt found himself getting lost in those optics as the anger he previously felt melted away. He slowly shook his head. “....No, go right ahead. I could use the company.”_

_He smiled and sat down. “Thank you. By the way, have we met before? You look very familiar.”_

_“No.”_

_“Really? I could've sworn I had seen your face somewhere….” He paused, stroking his chin in deep thought. “You're not from around here, you're a mech with status which explains the cape-By the way, why haven't you taken that thing off? You look very uncomfortable.”_

_“It's hard to take off. I tried breaking the chain, but it's no use.” Nitrobolt groaned and made another futile attempt to take it off. “The damn thing won't come off.”_

_The mech gave Nitrobolt a look of sympathy before reaching his clawed hands towards the chain around his neck. After fiddling around with it for about a minute, he was able to remove the cape with ease. “Better?”_

_Nitrobolt sighed in relief and smiled. “Yes. Thank you.”_

_“You're welcome and I'm guessing you're Nex. Your name was stitched into the neckline and I've seen your face in the tabloids.” He noted and took a quick swig of his own drink. “Now what is the son of Ineritio doing all the way over here in this_ _part of town?”_

_“Don't call me “Nex”, I go by Nitrobolt, and we got into a little argument.” Nitrobolt frowned. “I just came here to blow off steam and try to calm down.”_

_“Forgive me for being a busybody, but can I ask why, Ne-_ ** _ahem_** _,_ _I mean Nitrobolt?”_

_“Why should I tell you?”_

_“I'm curious. Don't worry, I'm not one of those annoying reporters desperate for a story.”_

_Nitrobolt remained silent for a moment, debating whether or not he should tell a complete stranger, before he mentally shrugged and proceeded to tell the mech about the entirety of the argument. The whole time the mech nodded, occasionally letting out a small “Mmhm” and “Uh-huh”. When Nitrobolt finished, the mech leaned back into his chair and stroked his chin again in deep thought._

_"You know...." He began. "You have every right to feel that way and, unsurprisingly, I do, too. Ineritio and the new council may have done some good for Cybertron, but there are certain things they've done that are unforgivable, such as what they did to your friends. They need to be stopped!"_

_Nitrobolt grinned. Finally, there was someone who agreed with him. "Exactly!" He shouted so loudly that all the other patrons at the bar stopped what they were doing and stared at them for a moment before going on with their business._

" _We need to do something about it." the mech said quietly as to not draw any attention again._

_"We?"_

_"Yes, we_.  _From this moment on, we're partners." He smiled and held out his hand for him to shake it. "What do you say, Nitrobolt?"_

_Nitrobolt was about to take his hand when he realized something. "Wait, I never caught your name, what is it?"_

_"Steeljaw."_

_"Well then, Steeljaw-" He took Steeljaw's hand and gave it a firm shake. "Consider us partners."_

_He smiled and Steeljaw smiled back, and for the first time in a while, he didn't feel so alone._

* * *

* * *

"Nitrobolt?" A familiar voice brought him back to reality, it's owner was the very mech he was thinking about. "Is that you?"

Circuit froze, not moving an inch. After a few minutes, Steeljaw came and sat next to him. After a few more minutes later, they finally looked at each other.

"How long have you been here?" Steeljaw asked sternly with a look to match.

"As long as you." He replied, expression mirroring his.

"Why the new paint job?"

"Complicated."

"Right before I was put in stasis, I heard you went missing. What happened?"

"None of your business."

"Did Ineritio finally see his threat to put you in stasis through?"

Circuit didn't answer. He just scooted over a bit, not wanting to be close to the mech he now despised, and he looked back at the setting sun.

"He did put you in stasis. Are you alright?" He asked, sounding a little concerned. "That's why you have the new paint job, you're hiding-"

"Why do you even care, Steeljaw? You didn't seem to care about how I felt back on Cybertron, why start now?" He muttered angrily, crossing his arms over his chest.

Steeljaw frowned. "I may have not returned your affections, but I do care about you and what happens to you."

He scoffed. "Yeah, right. Why don't you leave me alone and go back to your little "Pack"?"

"I would but-" Steeljaw paused and arched an optic ridge. "How do _you_ know about my pack?"

"From my commanding officer and _my_ team." Circuit stood up and took out his blaster (Fix-It had fixed up one he had lying around for him) and pointed it the bewildered wolficon. "Put your claws where I can see them and stand up, Steeljaw. You're under arrest."

Steeljaw stood up and held out his hands. "Go ahead, arrest me. I know you're going to regret it."

"Silence!" Circuit hissed, slapping the cuffs on him. He was about to comm base when his prisoner said something. "What?"

"Do they know who you really are?"

"No."

"One of them has to, how else could you've gotten the paint. Which one is it, hmm?" Steeljaw inquired. "Bumblebee? The dinobot? The minicon? The bounty hunter and his students? The deliquent? No? What about that cadet?"

Circuit didn't reply, but the way he suddenly tensed answered his question. 

"What do you thinks going to happen both of you if they find out?"

"That's never going to happen." He said confidently, but the look his face betrayed his true feelings on the matter: He was afraid. Afraid not only for himself, but for what might happen to Strongarm. Based on what was in his dossier, the team would either think he manipulated her or she was traitorous double agent.

Steeljaw chuckled then said darkly "How can you be so sure, Nitrobolt? They're going to find out eventually, and you'll both be punished. I don't think you'd want that for the cadet, you're obviously fond of her, why else would you trust her with your secret? Just think of what would happen to her-"

"Stop talking, stop saying that!" He screamed, covering his audials. "It's never going to happen, I won't let it."

"I could help you and I will, because like I told you earlier, I do care." Steeljaw said softly, voice taking a sympathetic tone. "You could join my Pack. You're a great warrior, we could use you. You're also very intelligent, I could use that. We could work together, just like we did on Cybertron. You and I made a great team, remember?”

"....We did, we really did." Circuit replied meekly. "But what about my team....What about Strongarm?"

"Forget about them and as for the cadet, you're doing it to protect her, Nitrobolt."

Circuit tensed when Steeljaw took both his hands. He looked down and saw the sly mech had gotten himself out of his cuffs, but for some reason, he didn't really care. He just stared up into those golden amber optics as all time seemed to stop while everything else disappeared.

"Nitrobolt, I used you then, I promise it's going to be different now. I've had a lot of time to think about it and I just want to say that I'm sorry, Nitrobolt, I'm so sorry….” 

Steeljaw smiled and, to both their surprises, Circuit smiled back and pulled him into an embrace. Being that he was almost half Steeljaw's size, his helm rested where his spark chamber should be and he could hear it beating as the larger mech's chest rose and fell with each vent he took.

It was nice, feeling the warmth of another's frame against his own, the feeling of safety in another's arms after so long.

They could work together again, things could be just like the were before. Just the two of them....on top of the world. But, then his thoughts wandered to his team, how they would feel of he betrayed them.

Bumblebee would be shocked, so would Fix-It, Grimlock, Drift, Jetstorm and Slipstream. Sideswipe, well, he'd probably be glad he was gone and wouldn't give a two frags about it. And Strongarm....it would break her spark.

He couldn't put her through that, even if what he was doing was, as Steeljaw put it, "to protect her". And even if that wasn't the case, who says Steeljaw wouldn't use him again?

Circuit clamped his optics shut and he pulled Steeljaw closer, like this was the last time he could ever live this moment, which was true. He wished that things could be like they used to be, but they couldn't and never will be, he had to accept that.

"I'm sorry, Steeljaw, but no." He choked out as he tried to fight the urge to cry and he pushed him away. "Things will never be the same between us, not ever. I've chosen my side and I will not betray my badge, even if it means I have to go against you. I will let you go free for today, if only because...."

Circuit didn't finish the sentence, he just turned on his heel and ran in the opposite direction.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his helm and he howled in agony as it spread through his whole body like a wild fire and he collapsed to the ground. The world became darker and darker, and the last thing he saw was a group mechs coming towards him before everything went black.


	5. Chapter 5

“Dis was a lot easier dan I expected.” Thunderhoof said, looking down at the catatonic Circuit Splitter. “Why did he scream though, I mean, it was just a little tranquilizer.”

“Fracture, what was in that dart?” Steeljaw asked, sounding a little too concerned to the others. “And is he going to be alright?”

“Well, the usual and a little something extra to ensure he won't wake up anytime soon.” Fracture bent down and pried his optics open and felt a fuel line on his neck for a pulse. “I'm no doctor, but he should be fine-Hold on, why are so worried about his wellbeing? You didn't actually mean all that slag you said about caring about him, did you?”

“No….I just need to make sure our prisoner isn't dead before we could ask him anything.” Steeljaw replied, picking up Circuit Splitter. “Let's make ourselves scarce before the Autobots are alerted."

 

Circuit slowly onlined his optics with a groan. The pain in his helm had gone down but it still lingered, not to mention he was dizzy. He looked around. He was in a dark room, bound by his wrist and legs, hanging from the ceiling.  _ Where am I?  _ He thought, swinging back and forth in an effort to get himself down. Then the memories of the previous night came flooding back, and he swung harder and faster, but there was no use, he was stuck dangling like a piece of meat in a freezer. 

“Fix-It, can you get a fix on my coordinates, I need help!” Circuit shouted frantically into his comm. “Steeljaw and his Pack have taken me prisoner!” 

Nothing, there wasn't even static.

“Fix-It….Fix-It are you there?”

Again, nothing.

“No. No. No. No….NO!! Strongarm, do you copy!? Strongarm!! Help!” He cried, but again just like before, nothing. “STRONGARM!”

Suddenly, he heard someone snicker and he saw the group of red optics in front of him.

“You have exactly 3.5 seconds to show yourselves!” Circuit growled. “Or else-”

He was interrupted by a bright, blinding light being flashed in his face.

“Or else what, yer gonna talk us ta death?”  Underbite laughed. “'Cause in case ya haven't noticed, yer all tied up.”

“Where's Steeljaw?”

“Right here.” Steeljaw spoke up and approached him with a stern expression and his brows furrowed. “Nitrobolt, I was hoping you'd join us, but since you didn't we had to resort to Plan B-”

“Knock me out, tie me up.” Circuit struggled some more before he sneered. “You know out of context, this looks very suggestive.  _ Five Cons and One Bot _ has a nice ring to it, no? Personally, I've never really been into-”

“ _ Anyway!!”  _ Steeljaw quickly interrupted him before he could finish, much to the relief of the others, whose faceplates had begun to heat up with the dirty thoughts Circuit had put in their processors. “Plan B, interrogation. You have something we want, information. We want to know the location of your base, though we already have a good guess, and it's defenses, your Autobot comrades and their weaknesses. I'm going to ask you nicely first, and if you refuse to answer, you'll have to deal with them.” He motioned to the rest of his Pack. “Understood?”

“You might as well unleash the hounds on me now because I'm not talking, Steeljaw.” He replied, glancing at the mechs behind him for a moment. “Honestly, I thought you'd have a better crew. You got a hasbeen,” Thunderhoof. “a bounty-less bounty hunter,” Fracture. “a guy no one even remembers,” Underbite. “and a little snitch.” Clampdown. “But I digress, you have to work with what you got.”

“ _ EYO!  _ Who are you callin' a hasbeen you punk!” Thunderhoof roared, gritting his dentae. “When I'm finished wit' you, you're gonna wish you was never bo-”

“You don't want do it the easy way to save your life, fine.” Steeljaw frowned and made his way out. “Do as you may, but I want him alive when this is over.”

“Aren't you gonna stay and watch the show?” Fracture asked.

“Sadly, I have something to do. Enjoy yourselves, but remember, I want him alive.” Steeljaw smiled, but as soon as he was out of sight he let out a frustrated growl. “Nitrobolt, why do you-”

He flinched when Nitrobolt let out a energon curdling scream.

“Why do you have to make things so hard for yourself?”

♢♢♢♢♢

“Strongarm for the thirty-somethingth time, I don't know where Circuit is!” Sideswipe groaned. Strongarm had been grilling him along with Grimlock with questions for ten minutes about Circuit Splitter's whereabouts. Personally, he didn't care where the frag he was, he could be dead and he still wouldn't care….Okay, maybe he would, but at the moment his disappearance was the last thing on his processor. The fragger had left a bunch of scratches and scuffs on his paint, and he couldn't even find his armour polish or buffer.

“But you might know something that could help me know where he is.” Strongarm looked back at Grimlock in distress. “Grim, please, do you know anything?”

Grimlock was shook his helm in reply. “Sorry, Strongarm, I didn't really see a lot him yesterday….Wait, I do remember him saying something about wanting to be left alone and to tell him when you got back because he wanted to talk to you, and when I went to tell him he was gone-”

“What's going on over here?” Bumblebee interrupted. “Aren't you all supposed-”

“Lieutenant Bumblebee, have you been aware that Cadet Circuit Splitter has been MIA since last night?!” She asked.

“No, really?” 

“What? You haven't noticed, like, at all!” She yelled in disbelief. “How is that possible?”

“Hey, I know it may sound harsh, but sometimes we hardly notice he's here because of how much he keeps to himself.” Bee said, holding his hands up defensively. “Exactly how long has he been missing?”

She brought up a holographic journal with timestamps. “The last time I saw him was right before I went on patrol at 6:35 PM. By the time I came back at 8:03 PM, he was gone. I haven't seen him for fourteen hours, twenty-two minutes, and thirty-seven seconds and counting. He's never gone  _ that  _ long without making an effort to contact me, lieutenant. Something must have happened to him!”

“Sounds like someone's possessive.” Sideswipe whispered to Grimlock, who nodded in agreement.

“I heard that and I'm not possessive, it's just the way he is.” She frowned at him, shutting off the hologram. “I tried contacting over his comm and it's dead, I even tried our private frequency and it's dead, too.”

“Strongarm, may we speak with you?” Slipstream asked, Jetstorm and Drift in tow. “Jetstorm and I have some information that will interest you. It's about Circuit Splitter.” 

“What is it?” Strongarm pleaded. “I'm desperate.”

“Well….” Jetstorm cautiously glanced at Sideswipe for a moment before continuing. “Yesterday, we were helping Russell look for his helmet since he had a game to go to. Me and Slipstream went to ask Circuit if he had seen it, but he was having a small physical altercation with Sideswipe.”

“What?!” Strongarm stared at Sideswipe in a mixture of anger and disbelief. “You said you got all those scratches because you tripped and fell into a stack of cars!”

Sideswipe ignored her in favor of throwing a hard glare at the minicons. “You saw that and you didn't think about helping me!?”

“You insulted his honor by calling him a coward, you deserved it!” Slipstream shouted back angrily. “Anyway, afterwards he transformed drove away.”

“Any idea where he might have gone?” Bee asked, more concerned than he was earlier.

“No.”

Strongarm nodded at that and ran to the command center. “Fix-It, I need your help!”

“Oh, hello, Strongarm.” the orange minicom smiled. “What is it? Is your decepticon hunter malfunctioning or-”

“Circuit Splitter's missing, I need his last coordinates!”

“W-What? That's aegis- _ KZZT!  _ Anvil- _ CLANK!  _ Awful!!” He gasped and went up to his computers and began typing something in. “I got it!” He shouted. “His last known coordinates were-”

“Perfect, thank you so much, Fix-It!” Strongarm smiled, transforming and speeding off. “Don't worry, Nitro, I'm coming.”

“Strongarm, slow down!” Bee shouted as he tried to catch up with her. “I'm sure he's alright-”

“I go missing for one hour, and everything goes to the pit. Circuit's missing for about half a day and it's like he doesn't matter!” She replied angrily. “I mean I get Sideswipe, but expected you to show a little more concern!”

“First, that was before you proved yourself to me and second, I am worried, but Circuit has shown that he's very capable of handling himself. He's captured fugitives twice his size all by himself and he comes back with barely a scratch.” He pointed out, driving up next to her. “Have a little faith in him.”

“I do, lieutenant, I'm just worried that something bad has happened to him.” She sighed, slowing down a bit before coming to a complete halt and transforming they had reached their destination.  began walking around in search for their missing comrade. “ “Do you know that sick feeling you get from the pit of your spark when you know something's wrong? Take that and multiply it by ninety. That's how I feel right now….”

“Strongarm, it's going to be okay.” Bumblebee reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, even though she seemed beyond comfort at this point. He had seen since Circuit joined just how much the two cared about one another, it was almost like they were siblings, which might be why this was so hard for her. “Like I said, have a little-” Something glinting in the morning sun quickly caught his attention and he went over and picked it up. It was blaster. “-faith….”

“That's Circuit's!” Strongarm gasped, snatching the blaster from him. “Now do you believe something's wrong? You know he never let's his blaster go, he sleeps with it for crying out loud!”

Bumblebee nodded, calm expression quickly turning to one of worry. He pressed on his comm. “Fix-It, we got a situation.”


	6. Chapter 6

Strongarm stared longingly down at the blaster in her hand. She turned it over and, with a finger, traced the name etched into the handle, _Circuit Splitter_

It had been a whole week since Nitrobolt (or “Circuit Splitter” as everyone else knew him) had disappeared. The team searched for him between missions, but they couldn't find a single trace of him, it was like he had disappeared off the face of the planet. She was slowly, but surely, losing hope that they'd ever find him.

Maybe he was dead. Or maybe, Primus forbid, he had joined back up with Steeljaw. The thought of Nitro dying was horrible enough, but the thought of him betraying the her and team felt much worse. The fact that he might be alive and was just purposefully letting himself not be found was torture.

“Hey, Strongarm?”

She looked down from her spot on top of the sign and saw Sideswipe.

“What?” She called down. “I said I wanted to be left alone….”

“I know, but I wanna talk.” He called back. “So, can I come up or are you gonna make me stand here all day?”

“....Sure, why not?” She shrugged after a moment. “It's lonely up here anyway.”

Sideswipe smiled and replied with a small “Thanks” before climbing up and sitting next to her.

“So….uh, how was your day?” He asked. “Anything crazy happen?”

“Good….nothing really happened.”

“Great. Did you….”

He went on to ask her a series of random questions ranging from her favorite color to any movies she's watched until she stopped him a few minutes later.

“Okay, why do you want to know all these things about me? You've never seemed this interested in _my_ life.” Strongarm said, annoyed. “Do you want something from me?”

“No! Look, cut me some slack, I'm kinda new to this….” Sideswipe tried to come up with the word. “Sentimental? Yeah, I'm kinda new to this _sentimental_ thing. I just….I just wanna know how you're feeling.”

Strongarm was silent for moment before she said something, but she spoke so quietly it was almost a whisper.

“What?”

“You actually want to know how I'm feeling?” She asked a little louder, but still very quiet.

Sideswipe nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Spit it out.”

“I'm miserable.” She looked at the blaster in her hand. “I just want Circuit to come back….”

“I know, and he will, just keep waiting. Okay?”

“Okay….” She sighed. If Sideswipe was trying to make her feel better, it wasn't working.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a pair of arms wrapped around her frame and pulled her towards their owner in a embrace. “What are you doing!?”

“What does it look like I'm doing? It's called a hug.” He scoffed. “Please don't punch me.You just....you just looked like you needed one.”

“Oh….”

It took a moment, but she (awkwardly) returned his hug.

“Look,” Sideswipe spoke up a minute later, not breaking their embrace. “I know we have our little fights and most of the time we don't get along, but we are still friends; Friends who want to rip out each other's sparks sometimes, but friends. Okay?”

Strongarm nodded.

He continued. “Here's the thing, I'm a—I think it's called a _yin_ ?—I'm a yin and you're a yang. We're complete opposites, but we need each other. You need someone to scold and keep out of trouble _,_ I need someone to scold me and keep me out of trouble. Lately, you haven't done that. You haven't been your Strongarm-y self, you've been all depressed, and it's my job to make you feel better because it's driving me _crazy_. I know it's because we haven't been able to find Circuit Splitter and even though I dislike him; seriously, I can't stand him; I actually do hope we find him. Until then, just, hold on.” He pulled back and smiled at her. “Okay?”

“....Thanks, Sideswipe.” The corners of her turned up in a small smile. “I needed that.”

“You're welcome—If you tell anyone about this, I'll paint you pink in your sleep.” He threatened playfully. “I'm serious.”

Strongarm laughed a little and punched him lightly in the arm. “And if _you_ tell anyone, I'll kick you into the sun.”

♢♢♢♢♢

Steeljaw walked into the interrogation room and internally cringed at the sight of the mech dangling lifelessly in the middle of the room.

Nitrobolt looked like he had been to the Pit and back again. Every inch of him was covered in dents and scrapes, and there were a few deep gashes that were still oozing with energon into the growing puddle below. You could hear each vent he took, and they sounded painful.

It was a miracle to him how Nitrobolt managed to still be alive after everything the Pack had put him through.

He had to say, he did feel a little….remorse for having this done to him. He may have lied to Nitrobolt about many things, but there was one thing he hadn't lied about; He did cared about him. Probably too much for both their goods.

 _Well, time to get to work while he's still recharging._ Steeljaw thought before he reached up and brought him down. He laid Nitrobolt down on the cleanest spot on the floor and left for moment before returning with a couple of tools, a few small sheets of metal, and a cube of energon. He set them down beside him and broke the chains that bound the small mechs wrist and legs and went to work; He wasn't exactly a medical expert and the tools were just a welder and a pair of large pliers he had found, but they were good enough for now and he knew how to do standard repairs.

With the pliers Steeljaw pulled out the sharp pieces of metal wedged into some of Nitrobolts cuts and with the welder he welded sheets of metal to his more serious wounds to prevent them from bleeding any further. Other than Nitrobolt spasming and occasionally letting out a “NNGH” or a “HNNNGGG”, it went along very smoothly.

That is, until Nitrobolt suddenly woke up.

“Steeljaw….I'm going to-Ah!” He was about to lunge at him but the throbbing pain in his side prevented him from doing so.

“You're going to what, Nitrobolt? You're in no state to be doing anything physical.” Steeljaw scolded him in a tone one would use for a child. “Now, since you're obviously awake, I don't need to feed this to you.” He took the cube and pushed it into his hand. “Drink it, now! You need to refuel.”

Nitrobolt stared at it for a moment and shook his head. “I don't want it….I-I don't need it….”

“Yes you do! I'm not leaving until you drink it-”

“But….I don't want you to leave, Steeljaw….” Nitrobolt said weakly. “Please….don't….Please just stay….I don't want to be alone again….”

“Didn't you just try to attack me?” He asked in disbelief.

“I thought you were going….to kill me….” He motioned towards the welder. “But then….I realized you were….only trying to help me. So please….don't leave me now….a second time.”

“If I remember, which I do, it was _you_ who forced me to leave the first time.” Steeljaw retorted spitefully. “Now drink the energon-”

“AND IT WAS _YOU! YOU!!_ YOU WHO PLAYED WITH MY FEELINGS, YOU WHO LIED AND USED ME WHEN YOU KNEW HOW MUCH I…How much I….how much I....” Nitrobolt stammered as his optics began to well up with lubricant. “How much I…. _I loved you,_ Steeljaw. That's why I made you leave. You hurt me….in the worst way anyone possibly ever could.”

“I'm sorry, Nitrobolt.” Steeljaw sighed. He wished he could say something more, something meaningful, but his processor was blank. “I'm sorry.”

“I don't know why I'm even starting to believe you are.” Nitrobolt muttered and wiped his tears away with the back of his hand, picking up the cube with the other and finally drinking it. “Happy, I drank it.”

“Thank you.” Steeljaw said with a hint of relief. He took the empty cube and was about to get up to leave, but Nitrobolt grabbed him by the arm.

“I told you….not to leave.” Nitrobolt frowned and pulled him back down with all his strength. “I want to talk about your offer….that is, if it's still available.”

Steeljaw raised an optic ridge. “I'm listening.”

“Steeljaw I only denied the first time because I was upset at you. Don't get me wrong, I still am, but it's outweighed by the fact I don't have anything worth going back to on my team.” He paused to take a deep vent before continuing. “The dinobot is an idiot, Bumblebee is insecure and a poor excuse for a leader, the red guy hates me, the minicon is a bumbling fool, and the bounty hunter hunter's a hard aft, his students are okay though. The only one who comes close to being worthy of my attention is Strongarm. But with you, I have everything to look forward. You actually have a great team….I guess what I am trying to say is….”

“Yes?” Steeljaw said, eagerly awaiting his reply.

“I want to join you in making this a world for Decepticons. I miss how things were before, when we worked together, but most of all I miss you. It's hard being apart from you, it's painful. I can't stop thinking about the night we met….I see your face in my dreams every night… _._ ” Nitrobolt reached out a hand and touched Steeljaw's face. “I-I want to be with you again, if that isn't too much to ask…. _”_

Steeljaw couldn't help but smirk at how Nitrobolt had _finally_ played into his hands.

“Oh and Steeljaw, sweet dreams.”

“What do you-”

Before he could even react, Nitrobolt sucker punched him and knocked him out.

Nitrobolt propped himself up against a nearby wall and pushed himself up to stand. He took a few wobbly steps forward before he was able to steadily guided himself to the exit. He stopped, taking a few deep vents to reassure himself that he could do it, and he staggered out and was instantly grabbed by Thunderhoof.

“Nice try, kid.” Thunderhoof said, laughing, and he punched him in the abdomen. “Ya din't think I woun't be watchin' da door.”

“Well, didn't hurt to try escaping….” Nitrobolt shrugged, seemingly unscathed by his blow. He squirmed for a moment before asking. “Do you like music?”

“Huh?”

“Do you like music? Because I'm a heck of a singer.” Nitrobolt smiled. “Seeing as I'm most likely going to die when this is over….please let a condemned mech have his last wish? _Please?”_

“Heck, why not? It's not like you're goin' to escape or somethin'.” Thunderhoof shrugged but kept a firm grasp on him. “Start singin' before I change my mind.”

Nitrobolt quickly nodded. “Alright, alright. Just give me a moment…. _So long child, I'm on my way. And after all is done, after all is done. Don't be down! It's all in the past, though you....may be.… afraid.”_

Thunderhoof didn't know why, but he suddenly felt an overwhelming amount of grief wash over him. His lips began to quiver and he felt a small lump beginning to grow in his throat. He felt something wet and warm trailing down his cheeks.

“P-Please, stop!” He shouted, lubricant streaming down his face. “Stop!!”

_“So long child, it's awful dark, and I've never felt the sun!”_

Thunderhoof fell deeper and deeper into a pit of sadness until it was too much for him to bear.

_“I dread to think of when….When the wind blows. When the wind blows. When the wind blows. When the wind bloooows!”_

He released Nitrobolt from his grasp and fell to the floor, curling up into a ball and sobbing.

“ _Life burns a savage wound, angry and wrong! Trusting a twisted word, you'll run, run away!!”_ Nitrobolt continued to sing as he made a run for it, getting louder and louder as each word slipped out. Anyone who dare oppose him suffered the same fate as Thunderhoof, and were left sobbing uncontrollably on the ground.

“ _You'll take it all home! You'll spin a tall tale!”_ He looked around and smiled when he saw the way out. _“But, they won't believe you no matter what you say!”_

“Nitrobolt, stop!” Steeljaw shouted, he had woken up and like the rest was sobbing uncontrollably, and he threw the first thing he was able to get a hold of at him.

The first thing Nitrobolt felt was something piercing through the seams of his chestplates and the sharp pain that followed afterwards made him want to scream. He coaxed himself into looking down and nearly fainted at the sight of jagged edged pole which had impaled him. He looked back at the horrified Steeljaw.

“ _Why?”_ He choked out, his voice crackling with static. “Why?”

“N-Nitrobolt, I'm sorry….I didn't mean to, I swear, I didn't mean to—”

“ _So long child, it's awful dark_ _I never felt the sun! I dread to think of when.…the wind blows!”_ He shouted with all his strength, bringing Steeljaw to his knees in tears. He pulled out the pole and transformed, ignoring the alarming rate energon was leaking out of him, and drove off.

He needed to get back.

Back to his team.

Back to Strongarm.

_When the wind blows_

His hud flashed with warnings about how much energon he had lost and that stasis lock was imminent. He didn't care, he just went faster.

_When the wind blows_

But, with each mile, he became weaker.

_When the wind blows_

He could feel the life seep out of him until finally—

_When the wind blows_

He stopped

 _When the wind blows…._  



	7. Chapter 7

“Hank, wake up. We'll be there in five minutes!” The man said to his daughter, who was dozing off in the passenger seat. “I told you not to stay up all night practicing that maneuver, but you didn't listen….”

“Sorry, dad, I just….you know practice makes per….fect….” She yawned, nodding off to sleep before she snapped back up. “I want to be like Bronko Kowalski.”

“I don't think Bronko Kowalski wouldn't have had a good night's rest before a big game.” He shook his head and tisked. “Look, maybe you should back out today and rest, then you could play tomorrow—”

“Dad, stop the car!” Hank said with a sense of urgency. “I saw someone in the ditch at the side of the road, I think they're hurt!”

He immediately pressed on the brakes and the car skidded to a halt, and he set the car into reverse until Hank gave him a signal to stop.

“Hank, stay in here, I'll check it out, and be ready to call 911 if anything, got it?”

Hank nodded and remained seated as her dad got out the vehicle. 

He immediately saw the body of man lying in the dirt, a large red circle in his back. 

“Oh my God, are you alright, man?” He shouted as he carefully made his way down the small slope, though it was very obvious he wasn't. He crouched down beside it and flipped him over, and he instantly saw the gaping wound in the middle of the chest near the heart, blood slowly oozing out. “Not okay! Hank!”

“Yeah!?” She called back from the car. “What is it, dad!”

“Call 911!” He yelled back in reply, pressing two fingers on the side of the neck like he had seen in a show somewhere for a pulse, which seemed too slow to be even human. That's at least what he thought, he wasn't a doctor—

“Bolts….?” He heard someone suddenly gasp from behind him. He quickly turned and Hank, cellphone in hand, with a horrified expression.

“Hank?! I told you to stay in the car!” He shouted angrily, covering her eyes as he dragged her back to the car. “Did you even call 911?,

“Bolts….” Hank repeated in shock. “I have to help him, Dad, I have to help him!”

“You know him?” He stopped midway and looked her straight in the eye in concern and confusion. “How?”

“That doesn't matter, I have to help him, dad! I have to!”

“Don't worry, we'll help him!” He looked back at “Bolts” then back to her as he caught the sound of sirens in the near distance. “Who is he?”

“My friend.”

♢♢♢♢♢♢

“Hey, Bolts. I only got a few minutes to spend with you so I'm gonna make it quick, okay?” Hank smiled at him as he laid in a hospital bed, still catatonic and hooked to all kinds of machines, some of which she didn't know the names to. She pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. “I haven't seen you in a while, but I guess you were just really busy with your life. It's not easy being on the run, maybe that's why you got a new paintjob. Oh, my dad's fixing you up since he's a mechanic, ya know? He probably patched up what was leaking because this part of you isn't bleeding so much anymore. Someone must've really messed you up, you were covered in dents when they found your alt mode....” 

“Excuse me, who are you?”

Hank jolted in surprise before turning her head and facing the policewoman who stood next to her. She looked pretty young for a cop, and her hair was unnaturally all white with the ends highlighted blue and it was short and curly. She had bright baby blue eyes that seemed to glow a little with blue lipstick to match.

“A friend, who are you?” Hank asked in turn. “I thought the cops were done asking me questions about him.” 

“I'm a friend, too.” She replied and pulled up a chair to sit next to her. “Um….What's your name?”

“Henrietta, but my friends call me Hank….What about you?”

“Oh, me? Oh, my name is uh….my name is…” She paused for a moment, looking confused. “Its….My name….My name's Sara….Armstrong? Yes, Sara Armstrong. Anyway, Hank, how'd you meet?”

Hank stared at her for a long moment, suspicious about the way she was acting, the way she constantly hesitated when it came to her name was a little off.

“He saved me from a, uh, bear, I would've died if it wasn't for him.” Hank finally answered, smiling at Bolts for a moment before looking back at “Sara”, squinting her eyes. “How'd did you meet him?”

“Oh, I just bumped into him one day, that's pretty much it…” Sara answered and looked at Bolts and then to a clock in the wall above the bed. “It looks like it's getting late, you should probably go home soon. Where's your….parent or guardian?”

Hank shrugged. “I don't know, I think he's on his way. I should probably call him soon….You think Bolts will be okay?”

“Yeah, you just got to….have faith.” Sara sighed. “You know, I didn't only come here because he's my friend. He's getting transferred to another facility and I'm supposed to watch him.”

“Really?” She asked, sounding a little distraught. “Can you tell me where?” 

“I'm sorry, but I can't.” Sara shook her head “But, don't worry. If he gets better, I'll give you a call.”

“Thank you.” Hank smiled and looked back at Bolts, giving him a hug. “You'll get through this, Bolts, I know you will.”

Someone lightly rapped their knuckles on the door before coming in, revealing them to be Hank’s dad. “Hank? Who's that with you?”

“Hi Dad, and this is Officer Armstrong. Officer Armstrong, this is my dad.”

“Nice to meet you miss, I'm Henry.” Henry shook Sara’s hand. “I hate to cut this little meeting short, but I have to take Hank home.” He looked at his daughter. “Are you ready to go, sweetie, or do you want a little more time with….Bolts?”

“Yeah, I'm ready. Besides, my times up.” 

“Would you like me to escort you two out?” Sara asked. “It really won't be much trouble.”

“I think we'll pass, but thanks for the offer.” Henry smiled and shook her hand before leaving with Hank. “Again, nice meeting you.”

♢♢♢♢♢♢

The drive home was pretty quiet aside from the music playing on the radio, mostly because Hank was asleep. And Henry, well, he was just thinking. 

Why had Hank never told him  _ anything  _ about this Bolts character? 

Apparently, she had met him months ago after he, supposedly, saved her from a rabid bear. She at least would have told him about a bear attack, about how she “almost died”, but yet, she never did. 

Nothing about this whole thing was adding up. “Bolts”—Hank told him—had lived in the area for months. People did know him, he often frequented clubs and bars, sometimes he was seen at the park, Henry may have seen him once or twice; The thing was, no one  _ really  _ knew him, he was just a familiar face in the crowd.

The only one who did really seemed to know him was Hank, and it looked like, at least to him, that she was lying about certain things about him when she was talking to the police; It was like she was protecting him, but from what, he didn't know….yet.

Henry sighed as he pulled into the driveway into the garage. 

_ Maybe I'm just overthinking things. _ He thought as he got out the car and open the doors to the backseat, picking up his sleeping daughter and going inside.  _ I'll talk to Hank about it in the morning….She wouldn't lie to me….I hope... _

He laid her down in bed, removing her helmet, vest, shoes and socks, before covering her up with a blanket and tucking her in. 

She stirred a little and muttered something about Bronko Kowalski and turned on her side.

Henry smiled and placed a small kiss on her forehead before quietly making his way out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was haaaaaaaard. I had an idea, had to scrap it. Got another, had to scrap that one, too. So I decided to go with an old idea: Hank knowing Nitrobolt.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team do little digging about who Circuit Splitter really is and make a shocking discovery  
> (Please comment)

Henry woke up with a start when Hank pounced him and began shaking him. “Dad, wake up!”

“I'm up—Oof! I'm up!” Hank stopped and he sat up. He glanced at his clock. It read 2:55 AM. He yawned. “Now, what's got ya all riled up this early?”

“It's gone!”

“What's gone?”

“The bike! I heard a noise, so I went to check on it and it's gone!”

“What!?” Henry shouted in disbelief and quickly got out of bed, putting on a robe on the way out the door and running down stairs and to the door that lead to the garage. He practically broke the door down as he burst through and gasped.

Just like Hank said, the motorcycle was gone as if it had disappeared into thin air.

“Yeah, when I came down to check on it, it was gone!” Hank cried when she caught up to him. “Ya think someone broke in?”

He nodded in reply and looked around to check for other things that were stolen. Surprisingly, nothing was taken. All his tools were still in place, the other car he was working on was still there. It looked like all that was taken was that bike.

He raised a brow at that. There were other things that could've been stolen, other _very_ valuable things, and they took a nearly wrecked, scuffed, and dented bike that in no way looked valuable at the moment.

“Dad?” Hank pulled on his sleeve to get his attention and held out a piece of paper. “I found it on the floor under your work table.”

“Hmm?” He took it and looked it over. There was a “THANK YOU” written in large black letters on the back but nothing else to indicate where it came from. “ _Dear Henry, Thank you for looking over him. He is very valuable to me and I'm so glad you were able to find him. I'm sorry that I'm unable to pay you in money for this, but I'll pay you back someway, somehow, someday. Sincerely, Me…._ Him?”

♢♢♢♢♢♢

“Put him down….gently—Stop! Now back away.” Fix-It instructed Sideswipe, and he immediately backed away from the comatose form of Circuit Splitter.

“Strongarm, how are you holding up?” Bee asked the cadet, who was seated on the ground, hugging her knees and rocking back and forth, looking on the verge of tears.

“How do you think!?” She shouted back angrily. “We find Circuit, and he looks like he's gone into a hive of insecticons and let them beat the scrap out of him! How is he Fix-It?”

Fix-It looked up from his scans of Circuit with a solemn expression. “Not good. He has many internal injuries and he is very, _very_ low on energon. That doesn't even cover the fact that he has a fractured spark chamber!”

“What!?”

“You see the gaping hole in his chest?” He pointed to it. “Whatever got him nearly hit his spark, but still did a significant amount of damage. Luckily, that Henry patched his fuel lines without knowing it. Nonetheless, we must begin surgery. Who volunteers to assist me?”

Bumblebee stepped up. “I'll go first.”

Drift and Sideswipe also volunteered, and Jetstorm and Slipstream opted to monitor Circuit's spark rate on the computers along with Grimlock. There was only one thing left.

“Cadet Strongarm, I have the most important job for you.” Fix-It rolled up to her and motioned to Circuit. “Would you be willing to give a energon transfusion to him to make up for a bit of what he lost. I'm asking you specifically because I know how close you two are.”

Strongarm nodded eagerly. “Of course I'll do that, anything for him.”

“Thank you.” He smiled and rolled away to begin the surgery.

“Fix-It….you didn't tell her that you may not be able to save him?” Drift frowned, whispering so she wouldn't hear. “We're talking about fixing a fractured spark chamber, one wrong move could kill him. Are you even qualified—”

“I've studied it in the past, I think I could do it—”

““I think” isn't the same as “I can”.” Drift shook his head in frustration. “She has a right to know that Circuit won't—”

“She has the right to have hope that Circuit will make it! Who are you to say he won't?!” Sideswipe cut in angrily, practically shouting, it was a wonder Strongarm didn't hear. He looked back at her, gaze softening. “And if she hates us if he does die, well, at least we gave her the hope he would make it….she needs it….Now, uh, let's get started.”

 

The team worked tirelessly for hours on Circuit.

If one began to tire or their hands had started to fumble, the next bot would take their place. Fix-It silently cursed the little glitch in his processor, there were several times he nearly killed Circuit whenever he suddenly twitched, he was lucky the others were there to help him snap out of it. Strongarm constantly pacing back and forth wasn't helping with anyone's nerves either.

But, despite all this, Circuit was eventually stabilized enough by sunrise that they were all able to take a short break.

“How's he doing?” Strongarm asked. “Is he going to make it?”

“He is, don't worry, he is.” Fix-It replied confidently, hiding the fact that he was a little unsure. “You should go rest, you've been up for days. We got it covered.”

Strongarm hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave Circuit, but the small yawn coming from her and the overwhelming fatigue she felt outweighed the need to keep him in her sights made her leave anyway. Besides, Circuit was right here, safe at last. She wouldn't lose him a second time, not with all them keeping an eye on him.

“So….” Bumblebee cleared his throat when Strongarm was out of view. “I would've brought it up earlier, but we had to put the surgery first. Are we going to talk about who could've done this? Any guesses?”

“It had to be someone he knew.” Drift spoke up. “Someone who he would let his guard down with.”

Sideswipe nodded in agreement. “Yeah, didn't he drop his blaster?”

“And even if he dropped his blaster, he would've still fought back.” Grimlock pointed out. “Right?”

“Yeah, we didn't see any sign of a struggle at his last location.” Bumblebee added. “It had to be someone he trusted, someone who isn't us....” His optics widened. “What if—”

“Whoa! Are you saying that Circuit knows a ‘con?” Sideswipe interrupted.

“That does sound like a good theory.” Jetstorm nodded. “I mean, we don't really know him besides from what Strongarm says about him.”

Slipstream gasped. “What if he is a Decepticon and he's just been spying on us all along!”

“Hold on a minute! Everyone just calm down, it's just a theory.” Bumblebee explained. “Maybe we can access his files from the academy, that might tell us something. Fix-It?”

“On it.” He went to his computers. “Strange….there's no Cadet Circuit Splitter in their database. Let me try….” Fix-It tried searching for him using different keywords, he even searched in different databases until he found him. “Okay, here we go. Autobot Archives file on Circuit Splitter.”

“What does it say?”

“ _Circuit Splitter. Conjunx Endura: Axlerod. Offspring: Unknown Sparkling_....” Fix-It paused. “He's a sire?”

“Keep reading.”

 _“Occupation: Medic of Autobot Battalion 69. Status: Offline…._ ” Fix-It looked up, confused. “What?”

“I remember that. Battalion 69, all dead, no survivors.” Bee recollected. “How could our Circuit Splitter be that one?”

“He kinda looks like our Circuit, only, a lot older and a little more armor.” Jetstorm squinted his optics to get a better look. “And a mustache.”

“Wait, the sparkling didn't survive?” Grimlock asked.

Fix-It shook his helm. “According to this, it was about half a century old, so it isn't likely it survived. Why?”

He shrugged. “Because, ya know, I was thinking that maybe this Circuit Splitter is that Circuit Splitter’s son ‘cause they look alike….”

Bee gasped. “Wait, there was a survivor, we just didn't put into the report. Onyx and Nightshade—”

“They were on your old team, right?” Sideswipe replied with his own question. “Also, didn't they and their sparkling go missing a few years ago?”

“Yes, anyway, they went to scour the wreckage of the base camp to recover any weapons or fuel that was left. They didn't find much, but they did find a sparkling. It was a miracle the little guy was alive, he was so young, I mean, he could only chirp and crawl, his dental plates hadn't even hardened yet and he only drank low grade energon. We were supposed to, as per protocol, give him to a sparkling shelter, but they refused to let him go. They had become attached to him and him to them. So I, defiantly, left him out of the report so the didn't have to give him up, they were my friends after all. They eventually named him….” Bee trailed off, trying to remember what it was. “I forgot….A couple a hundred years down the line, he disappeared. They told me that they sent him off planet with someone so he could be safe, but they never said who. It's quite possible that he,” He pointed to Circuit Splitter. “is that kid.”

“That still doesn't help us in figuring out whoever did this to Circuit Splitter,” Drift groaned in frustration. “if that is even his name.”

“Okay, that aside, we need to get back to work!” Fix-It announced.

Sideswipe groaned. “But we just—”

“I said it was going to be a small break, now, chop-chop!”

♢♢♢♢♢

A several more hours had passed, and before they could say the entire Tyrest Accord, it was already sunset. The surgery was a success; the only thing that had to do now was wait for Circuit to wake up.

For the first few days, there was nothing. Then on the third day, he began talking. Sometimes he laughed and sometimes he even sang. It was actually very relaxing hearing him sing, they didn't even know he could, he only sang to Strongarm.

But then, one night, as Jetstorm, Slipstream, and Russell were passing by, he started to scream and thrash about like someone was holding him back.

“LET ME GO, LET ME GO!” He hollered as Grimlock, in real life, held him down to keep him in place. “I WILL EXACT MY VENGEANCE UPON YOU, I SWEAR IT UPON THE ALLSPARK!!”

Bumblebee quickly came over and helped pin him down. “What happened—Fix-It! Get over here with some tranqs or something!”

“We were just walking by and he began screaming!” Russell replied.

“Where'd Strongarm go?!”

“She and Sideswipe just went out on patrol—”

“I WILL COME BACK, YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME, I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES AGAINST ME! YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY FAMILY! I WILL RIP OUT YOUR SPARK BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES! YOU WILL KNOW MY NAME AND REMEMBER IT! I AM NITROBOLT!!!!” He suddenly fell silent and the mechs holding him down let him go.

“Did he say his name was Nitrobolt? Fix-It, look that up.” Bee commanded, and the minicon went to his computers.

“Nitrobolt….Nitro….Aha! Here we go.” Fix-It brought up the file. The picture that came with the file showed a smiling baby blue youngling who looked to be near his preteens. “ _Nitrobolt. Sire (Adopted): Onyx. Carrier (Adopted): Nightshade_ —”

“Oh yeah, they named him Nitrobolt! Little Nitro.” Bumblebee smiled. “Keep going Fix-It.”

 _“Sire (Biological): Circuit Splitter [Offline]. Carrier (Biological): Axelrod [Unknown] Status: Unknown....Nitrobolt is the adopted offspring of Onyx and Nightshade. Found in the wreckage of Battalion 69 in the arms of his dead sire, it is believed his carrier [Axelrod] abandoned them since his corpse wasn't among the others present (His location is currently unknown). He is highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat for his age and was in training [by Ratchet] to be a medic before going off the grid. He is alive, according to his creators._ ”

“Well that doesn't give us much information, it's very vague.” Drift sighed in annoyance. “This hasn't been updated since the war. Is there anything else on “Nitrobolt”?”

“Why, yes, there is! Right here in the….” His optics practically popped out of his helm. “A-ALCH-CHEM-M-MOR— **_CLANK!_ ** P-P-RI-RISON-SONER-ER— **_CLUNK!_ ** M-MANIFFFFF— **_SMACK!_ ** ESTEST— **_BANG!_ ** Alchemorprisonermsnifest!!” Fix-It stammered. “B-But how!?”

“According to this, he is guilty of two counts of reckless assault, attempted murder, three counts of murder, three counts of arson, larceny, and instigating rebellion….Has the ability to manipulate his surroundings and those around him vocally through song….” Bumblebee looked at the picture of Nitrobolt that came with the dossier.

It was a mech in his late teens, almost past the maturing stage. He was was all white, save for the light blue highlights, and a silver crown shaped plate on his forehead. He had seen that face a few times back on Cybertron, now that he remembered, he arrested this Nitrobolt a couple of times for minor things such as disrupting the peace or speeding.

He was such a nice kid, very well spoken and respectful, it was very unbelievable that he committed all those crimes, though instigating rebellion seemed plausible. He did seem to harbor a special kind of hate towards the council, Ineritio specifically, and Nitrobolt was always saying how he and his boyfriend would fix the council. Bumblebee later learned that Nitrobolt was in fact Nex the son of Ineritio when Nex went missing….

He looked at Circuit Splitter. He had to either be the first Nitrobolt or the second, or maybe, he was both. He could be neither, but on thing was for certain.

He definitely wasn't Circuit Splitter.


	9. Chapter 9

Strongarm drove into base after Sideswipe and transformed, returning from their patrol. The first thing she noticed was how eerily quiet everything was. No matter, she needed to check on Circuit Splitter. She hummed as she made her way to the command center. Everyone, including Sideswipe, were talking to one another about whatever and it seemed serious, but they stopped as soon as they noticed her. They turned and stared right at her, cold and harsh as their gaze burned into the very depth of spark, making her afraid. Except for Sideswipe, he just looked confused.   
“Oh hey, guys….” She smiled nervously. “What's going on?”

“Everyone, leave us.” Bumblebee ordered and they did as they were told, and one by one they left. Sideswipe was the last to leave as he looked back at Strongarm, looking a little worried, then upset and disappointed, and he shook his head at her before he left.

“S-Sir?” She asked nervously, backing up as he approached her until she was right next to Circuit, latching onto a hand for comfort she knew he couldn't give her. “What's going on?”

“Cadet Strongarm of the Kaon City Police Academy, hold up your right hand.” Bee commanded, his voice cold and his tone serious. She hesitated. “Are your audio receptors malfunctioning? I said raise your hand, cadet!"

She quickly rose her hand, more afraid than anything. She felt like a sparkling again, remembering the time when her sire was scolding her for playing with one of his grenades, she wanted to cry; What had she done wrong to deserve this?

“Now, do you swear in the name of Primus to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.” 

It was like she was being put on trial.

“I, Cadet Strongarm, swear in the name of Primus to tell the truth and nothing but.” She repeated, hoping he couldn't hear the obvious fear in her voice.

“Who is the mech on the slab?”

“Cadet Circuit Splitter, sir.”

He stared down upon her, doubtful. “Do you swear, in the presence of your peers, that this is his identity?”

She gulped. “Yes, sir.”

He turned to a nearby console and brought up Nitrobolt's file and at that instant, her spark sank and an overwhelming feeling of dread fell over her.

_They found out! How? HOW??_ She thought frantically. “Who is that, sir?” She asked as she not-so-subtly protectively stood in front of him.

“You lied, cadet, he _isn't_ Circuit Splitter.” Bee brought up Circuit Splitter's file to go with his statement. “ _He_ _is_ Circuit Splitter. He died during the war. Now, may you explain to us who he is and why he said his name was Nitrobolt?”

“I….I….” She looked back at Nitrobolt in a silent cry for help when she remembered he wasn't even conscious, she was alone in this.

There was no use lying, it'll just make things worse for the both of them. 

“….Because that is his name.”

“I see. Are you aware of his crimes?”

“Yes, lieutenant.”

“And yet, you  _ helped _ him.” Bee frowned.

She nodded. “I did, sir.”

“Why?” He asked.

“Because he is innocent—”

“That is not for you to decide!” He yelled, making her shrink back in fear. “As an officer of the law, you are to arrest any and all fugitives on sight! Do you understand!?”

“Yes, sir.” She squeaked out.

“I, for a moment, thought he was innocent like you, but then I realized looks can be deceiving. Have you even considered that he might be just manipulating you like a puppet on strings, hmm? He was put on the Alchemor for a reason, Strongarm, he's nothing but a criminal!” He shouted. “Th—”

“No, he isn't! He isn't, lieutenant!” She shouted back. “He isn't a criminal—”

“Quiet! Cadet Strongarm, as punishment for your actions, you are hereby stripped of your rank and are banned from leaving the base.” He said and looked at Nitrobolt. “And he's going on to stasis, where he belongs.”

“No!” Strongarm kicked Bumblebee back and in a swift motion she took out her blaster and aimed it at him. “I can't let you do that, lieutenant.”

Bumblebee slowly stood back up and held up his hands. “Strongarm….put the gun down.”

“No! You're going to hurt him.” She said with a low growl. “He is innocent, I know what I'm telling you.”

“I believe that….” Bumblebee slowly inched towards her. “....He manipulated you.”

“Get back! I will shoot, I swear that I'm gonna do it.” She said, sounding more hesitant than certain. Her grip on the blaster weakened as the horrible thoughts raced through her processor. What if he did just manipulate her? What it was just some big trick—No! Nitrobolt was good, and most of all, her friend. “He'd never—”

“Strongarm, don't do it!”

The wind was suddenly knocked out of her and she was pinned to the ground.

“Thanks, Sideswipe.” Bumblebee sighed in relief. “Guys, get over here!”

“Let me go!” Strongarm struggled against Sideswipe. “Please!”

Sideswipe grunted. “No! I'm not letting you ruin your life over some ‘con—Oof!”

Strongarm elbowed him and made a run for Nitrobolt, but she was immediately grabbed by Drift and Sideswipe. She struggled some more, but she wasn't able to break free. “You can't do this!”

“I'm sorry but we have to, Strongarm.” Bee sighed as he and Grimlock lifted Nitrobolt off the slab. “He's obviously brainwashed you. Fix-It, prepare a stasis pod for our fugitive.”

“Yes, sir.” He rolled away and opened up a free pod. “Pod ready, Bumblebee.”

“No!” Strongarm cried. “You can't, please, just listen to me! He’s innocent!”

They ignored her, and they pushed Nitrobolt in the pod. Bee reached for the small control panel, ready to shut the pod for good, but he hesitated and looked back at the distraught femme. Lubricant was streaming down her face, and she had this look of complete hopelessness in her optics as she shook her helm and repeatedly mouthed “No”. He couldn’t help but he feel guilty for doing this, making her cry, but she was young, she still had a lot to learn about the universe, about who were friends and who were just using her. 

She'll thank me someday, he told himself and set the pod to close.

Strongarm looked away, and for a moment, wishing she had never met him all those months ago. She wished they'd never become friends. She wished they'd never gotten close. She wouldn't be feeling this pain if he didn't matter to her.

But he did.

“NITROBOLT!” She screamed in anguish and put her helm back down. “....why….”

“STRONGARM!” Someone shouted back and she heard glass shatter. She snapped her helm back up and saw Nitrobolt break out his pod. He pounced on Strongarm, tearing her out of Drift and Sideswipe's grasp. “Turn off your audios!”

“What—”

“Do it!” He urged before he reeled his helm back. “Aaah-O—”

That was the last thing she heard before she shut off her audio receptors. What she saw was everyone coming at them, when they all froze and dropped their weapons, then to their knees. They looked like they were….crying and covering their audios while screaming. They fell to the ground, spasming and tearing at themselves like they were being torn apart from the inside out until they suddenly stopped. For a moment, she believed they were dead, until one of them stirred.

Nitro clamped his mouth shut, face twisting into a look of horror. What had he done? These were his friends and he hurt them—Wait, how did he….They were putting him in stasis. They found out. They knew. But still they didn't—Wait, Strongarm….STRONGARM!

He brought his gaze down to meet Strongarm's stunned one.

“What have I done!?” He cried and rolled off her. “What have I done!”

“It's okay, Nitro, it's okay!” Strongarm  said softly to not upset him further and calm him. “They're still alive, they're just asleep.”

“Thank Primus but I need to get out of here!” He scrambled to his feet and looked around frantically. “Wait, where's—”

“Denny and Russell aren't here, don't worry, they're fine. But, like you said, you need to get out of here.” She thought for a moment. “You go by our stargazing hill, I'll be there shortly with supplies for you.”

“Strongarm—”

“Go!”

Nitrobolt hesitated but he transformed and drove off anyway, cautiously optimistic she wouldn't get caught if the others woke up.

♢♢♢♢♢♢

“Where is she?” Nitro stated, frantically pacing back and forth. “It's been almost an hour.” He gasped. “What if she—”

“Is sorry she made you worry?” Strongarm said from behind him, transforming to bot mode. 

He turned and hugged her, sighing in relief. “Thank Primus.” He looked to the cart behind her. “That's a lot of energon, why'd you get extra? I mean it seems like too much for just one bot.”

“That's because it isn't.” Strongarm slipped out of his embrace and looked at him, serious. She took a deep vent and looked back for a moment like she was hesitant about something before turning back to him. “I'm going with you, Nitrobolt.”

“Why? You shouldn't waste your life like this!” Nitrobolt replied sternly. “You have hopes and dreams, you have a life back there with ou—your team. I don't want you to lose that all because of me, Strongarm.”

“I don't have a life back there anymore!” She shouted suddenly. “No one's going to ever trust me like they used to! I'm going to be confined to base, most likely dishonorably discharged for what I did when we get back home! I've broken all the rules, I've pretty much dishonored my badge, thanks all to me being friends with you! I love you too much to hate you and I'm worried you'll get hurt, so I'm going with you, whether you like it or not!”

“Strongarm—”

“No trying to talk me out of it! I've already decided and you can't sway me.” She huffed and stood her ground.

“I was going to say….” Nitrobolt held out his hand and smiled. “I guess this makes us both fugitives then.”

“You mean—”

He nodded. She smiled, squealing in delight as she eagerly took his hand in hers. 

They ran down the hill, pulling the cart behind them as both laughed. When they had reached the bottom, the two young fugitives transformed and disappeared into the darkness of the night.


End file.
